In a Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) network, Citizens Broadband Radio Service Devices CBSDs serve as access points which can support communications between a user equipment device (UE) and a service provider network.
A CBRS network often includes one or more Citizens Broadband Radio Service Devices (CBSDs) with relatively small coverage areas as compared to a macro base station or access point. In a CBRS network, interference is managed through power management of CBSD devices by a management device in the network referred to as a Spectrum Access System (SAS).
The Citizens Broadband Radio Service network utilizes the 150 megahetz in the 3550-3700 MHz band referred to as the 3.5 GHz Band. Not all CBSD devices are located so that they can be provided a backhaul connection, e.g., cable wired or fiber optic connection, to an operator's core network. In other situations such as for example where the CBSD is acting as a hot spot it may not be cost effective to provide a backhaul connection from the CBSD to the operator's core network. In still other situations, it may be useful to make a CBSD base station operational in a short period of time to address emergency or other short term high traffic needs without the time or expense of connecting the CBSD to an operator's core network. Furthermore, there are still other situations in which operating the CBSD to provide UE devices network services is highly desirable without expending the high costs of wiring the CBSD to an operator's network. Moreover, there are cost advantages to not building out a wired or fiber optic cable network to include all CBSDs when doing so for CBSD's in low density areas would be prohibitively expensive. However, it is desirable and advantageous for a Citizens Broadband Radio Service network operator to be able to provide as broad a coverage area as possible for its users while not expending large sums of money to expand the wired network to connect every CBSD device via a hardwired connection to the operator's network or using the CBRS network's wireless resources for backhaul connections.
In view of the foregoing comments, it should be appreciated that there is a need for new and improved methods, systems and apparatus to solve the technological communications and network centric problem of how to provide CBRS coverage and network services in areas to which the CBSD device does not have a backhaul connection to the CBRS operator's network in a cost efficient and effective manner. There is also a need for new and/or improved methods, apparatus and systems that address the technological communications and network centric problem of how to provide backhaul capacity to a CBSD device which does not have a backhaul connection to the CBSD's core network. There is also a need for providing backhaul capacity to a CBSD device which does not have a backhaul connection to the CBSD's core network without using the CBRS networks frequency spectrum.